


a girl who is both death and the maiden

by Valenae



Series: The Seven Sons of Thares [4]
Category: Original Work
Genre: F/F, First Meetings, Pining, as much as you can pine at the first meeting anyway
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-07-03
Updated: 2016-07-03
Packaged: 2018-07-19 21:38:11
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,146
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/7378324
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Valenae/pseuds/Valenae
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Maki meets El'icia.</p>
            </blockquote>





	a girl who is both death and the maiden

**Author's Note:**

> title from Angela Carter
> 
> these are my babies and i'm too emotional over them and i can't vent it because writing is hard and drawing is harder and no one else knows who they are

 It struck me after a moment that I was staring and I should probably stop before the girl commented on my rudeness. In the next moment I dismissed this; after all, she was staring, too, and did not seem inclined to stop. If she said I was rude, then she would have to admit to being the same. I suppose now that she could have said that I was rude while admitting no such thing about herself, but in that eternal moment I first met her eyes the thought of her being a hypocrite seemed just as laughable as the thought of the sea being orange. In the years that have since passed, my experience with her has made the thought no less laughable to me now than it was then.

“El’icia!” a voice cried from behind me, much the way I would imagine a dog would call at its owner’s return, if a dog were able. The source of the voice, the shopkeeper, came rushing around from behind me, tittering about the two of us like a beheaded chicken or maybe a concerned mosquito. It is hard to choose the best representation of his state when it seemed the entire world was encompassed in her eyes.

The moment, objectively, passed, this I know to be true; however, sometimes I feel like I am still there, in that cozy store, and all the things which have happened since that moment are merely visions glimpsed in the depths of El’icia at our first meeting. If this is not the case, as I believe we must assume, then the moment ended when the girl, whom I now knew to be called ‘El’icia’, turned to smile at the shopkeeper and said calmly, “Tirel, your daughter is utterly enraged and I believe you are all which will calm her.”

Tirel hesitated, the reason for which I soon discovered as his gaze snapped to me for an instant before returning to El’icia. “Are you sure, El’icia?” he asked. Realizing how obvious his true meaning was, he added, “that I am the one needed?”

At this point, all the irritation that I had forgotten came back full force. He was referring to me, and whether or not it was safe for this girl to be alone with me, not the situation with his daughter, yet he insisted on maintaining this pointless pretense as though it wasn’t obvious to anyone with eyes or ears what his true meaning was. I wanted to yell, to cry out against the unfairness of his suspicion, but instead I gritted my teeth and said simply, “I’m not a danger, I’m just looking for my sister.”

He didn’t seem to trust me, but El’icia helped him out the door with a curt, “See, she’s not a danger, she’s just looking for her sister,” voice strained as though she, too, were holding back anger.

Seeing my own reaction reflected in this formerly calm stranger perhaps should not have startled me as much as it did, but the reaction struck me as so out of place that I began to notice how much of her seemed so out of place. 

The first thing I had noticed was her eyes. They were blue, blue as the sky, something I hadn't seen among the amber-eyed selari or the black-eyed moria. Their color wasn’t all that had caught me, though, there was something else. At the time I would not have been able to tell you what it was that was so unnatural about her eyes; now, I know their quality more than any other, and I know that in that room they reflected no candlelight, but were flat and clear. Her dress was abnormal, too. This was a northern selari clan, and the air was temperate, warm even as winter descended. The people wore loose clothing in layers, breathable and adaptable to the changing season; El’icia, however, wore blue skirts that brushed the floor, bound by a white ribbon where they met her fitted bodice. Her sleeves ran to her elbows, tight against her arms, and pale gloves stretched up her forearms to meet them. Her bearing was also odd. She was short and slender, even for a sela, but had a presence which filled the room, seeming to draw the flames and the curtains and the shelves towards her along with my eyes. When she stepped toward me, she seemed almost to glide, the illusion furthered by my inability to see her feet from under her dress.

“Uh.”  _ Great, Maki, fantastic. Of course you see a pretty girl and lose all ability to speak. _

“You are angry, you are sad,” El’icia said, tilting her head, shoulders tensing. I could see her pupils widening, swallowing the blue of her irises. “You are scared.”

_ What the fuck‽ _

“Oh, no!” El’icia cried, eyes shining.  _ Is she crying?  _ “I didn’t mean to anger you.  _ Im aer thawelita _ , I’m so sorry.”

“Okay, calm down, lady.”

“ _ E, lim!  _ Now you are uncomfortable.  _ Im aer thawel _ . You are a visitor, you do not know our ways.”

She must have seen my confusion because she continued, “I am  _ el’tria _ , an empath. You startled me, you feel so loudly, and I’m not used to strangers. I didn’t mean to anger you. Empathy is such a basic part of our culture, and I see our visitors rarely enough that it is easy to forget that others are different. Your hearts sing just as clearly.”

I brought my hand up to rub my neck. “Of course. I’m sorry, too. I should have remembered.”

After a moment of silence, El’icia asked, “So, you are looking for your sister?”

_ Shit, how could I forget? _ “Yes! Her name is Sine. I have reason to believe she came through your village. She is short - ” I looked at El’icia again. “Well, short for our kind.” I placed my hand where Sine’s head would reach. “Her hair is fairly long, very curly, and she likes to wear it loose. We think she was heading to the mountains.”

“I know of whom you speak. She did indeed stop by here. I spoke to her; she seemed quite restless.”

“She was here‽”

“Yes, I’m certain. Only a few days ago, a woman who matched your description was here.” Her brows furrowed as though concerned or hesitant.

_ Oh no _ . “What is it? El’icia, what?”

She looked to the side. “There was something… odd about her. Her song,” She glanced up at me, “I mean, her emotions… They were not normal. I’ve never felt anything like it. She had to go to the mountain.”

“Shit! What was it? Do you know anything else?”

She looked up, eyes wide and shining. “The mountain. I-  _ She  _ had to go to the mountain. I don’t know how else to explain it.”

“Alright. Alright. Thank you for your help; I need to go tell my brother.”


End file.
